Category Archives: Healthy Living

Our resident foodie, Elizabeth Blake, forwarded me this article (http://www.foodandwine.com/blogs/2014/1/6/9-ways-to-use-chia-seeds?xid=DISH010914WaysToUseChia)Â because she knew that I am a chia fan. Â The team is always making fun of me for it, because chia seeds are a bit off the wall. Â In fact, my kids openly mock me with “Daddy eats chia pets!” before dissolving into laughter and running […]

We all know about the little window of time that we crawl through each evening. It begins at a precise moment shortly after the kids are done with sports or activities, stepping off of the late school bus, or when we finish sending the last email at work to face traffic and make it home. […]

We frequently hear from our customers that they would love to see Let’s Dish! locations closer to home. While we currently do not have plans to open any new locations, weâ€™re incredibly excited to offer sixÂ Hotspots (drop-off locations) in Northern Virginia beginning September 2013. Order up to 12 meals plus ready mades each month and […]

I recently reached out to our Dishers via Facebook in search of a ‘Featured Disher’ for our February e-newsletter. This response, from Anne Smith, who dishes at our Timonium, MD location, caught my eye. In light of Valentine’s day coming up, I loved hearing that Anne and her husband often dish together to get in […]

While weâ€™ve never considered ourselves a diet company, but rather proud proponents of a healthy lifestyle, Letâ€™s Dish! has helped a lot of dishers (myself included) to make healthier choices at mealtime and shed some pounds. Just this past year we featured Fran Mansuy who lost 158 pounds incorporating Letâ€™s Dish! meals and following Weight […]

A member of the Let’s Dish! team has recently hit the 100 pound weight loss mark (congrats to you!) and looks simply amazing. When people ask her the secret, her response is “I almost always make the better choice.”Â We live in a world of crazy fad diets, unrealistic workout programs and thousand of “self-help” […]

A few days ago, I posted the following question on facebook: “Have you lost weight with help from Let’s Dish!?”Â While all of the responses were great, we were amazed by one from long-time disher Fran: Wow! 158 lbs!Â We knew we had to get the story!Â Luckily, Fran was willing to share her weight-loss […]

I’ve often heard that it takes three weeks for something to become a habit.Â Today, its officially been 21 days since we’ve all made those dreaded new years resolutions.Â Are you still going strong? Have you cheated? Or, have you thrown in the towel completely? This year, the Let’s Dish! team made a few resolutions […]

Could you live without bread or pasta? A few weeks ago a homeopathic health practitioner recommended I eliminate gluten. As he talked about my apparent intolerance to wheat, I had visions of artisan bread floating through my mind. I really didnâ€™t like the idea of giving up my favorite indulgences. My mother recently made the […]

If you’ve dished with us this summer, there’s no doubt that you’ve heard about the Let’s Dish! Dinner Revolution, our initiative to change the way 2010 families eat dinner! For the past 5+ years, we’ve helped over 100,000 Mid-Atlantic families realize that it can be easy and affordable to put a healthy dinner on the […]

One of the questions we hear fairly often from new customers is “Well, is it diet food?” Of course, we say Let’s Dish! is technically not “diet food” as we all tend to think of it, but we do explain that our meals can certainly help busy families live aÂ healthy lifestyle. When we heard this […]

Three years ago when we started the Pink Dish! program, I had no idea how big it would become.Â This was more of a personal story for me, as my family has dealt with breast cancer in a way I’d not wish upon my worst enemies.Â But I am proud of how we were able […]

Angela McKeown is a busy mom who wants to put a healthy dinner on the table each night.Â But shuttling 4 active and growing boys to their many activities, means she’s often at the drive through, justifying her choice of Mexican take-out because ‘at least it has lettuce and tomatoes.’ So WUSA-9′s Living Well team […]

Our Let’s Dish! team recently had the pleasure of meeting Stephanie Mull while filming a video about healthy living for busy families.Â Stephanie is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD) who is energetic and passionate about finding easy ways for folks to make better eating decisions.Â With minimal begging on our […]

If you or someone you love is gluten-intolerant, we know how challenging it can be to enjoy healthy, convenient, delicious, restaurant-quality meals. At Let’s Dish!, we accommodate all kinds of dietary restrictions — and are especially proud to serve the growing population of dishers who seek gluten-free alternatives. Many of our meals are already gluten-free, […]

At Let’s Dish! we’re all about helping busy people get more done with less money in less time.Â So when I learned about the new free fitness website designed to help busy people get more done with less money in less time, I just had to share it with our Let’s Dish! family. www.SqueezeItIn.com features […]

I use my outdoor grill year round. I use it because I like the grilled flavor it adds to the food and, maybe more importantly, I use it because I embrace the concept of minimal mess. Why use a pot on the stovetop or a pan in the oven when I donâ€™t have to? Many […]

December 25th.Â Whatever you are celebrating this day or this season, we hope you are enjoying some downtime with friends and family. Our stores are closed today (although, pssst, you can still buy gift cards online in case you forgot someone!) so the 250+ employees of Let’s Dish! can spend the day with their loved […]

Last week,Â I was invited to an elementary school in South Riding, VA. The principal called an “emergency” faculty meeting after school.Â But this wasn’t anÂ emergency in the traditional sense; she just wanted to be sure everyone was there… and on time… soÂ that I could deliver some exciting news. You see, at this school thereâ€™s a […]

People are often surprised to learn that the Let’s Dish! meals they know and love are actually good for them.Â As I develop the monthly menus, I am fully aware that these are the meals you will be feeding your family.Â I want them to taste good (hey, we all know some picky eaters), but […]

This recent piece on WMAR, ABC-2, does a wonderful job of capturing what Pink Dish! is all about… from Lisa and Alexa’s vision and purpose, to how free Let’s Dish! meals have benefited families in need. Take a look! Pink Dish! has gotten plenty of publicity this fall. Thanks to all the media outlets who […]

Elizabeth Marcotte did a wonderful job talking about how Pink Dish! is supporting local families — all the while cooking up a little Antioxidant-Rich Greek Isle Chicken. Watch the video to learn more about Pink Dish!, our special entree this month, and how you can get involved in this year’s campaign …

Get your DVR ready! Elizabeth will be on WUSA, DC’s channel 9, Tuesday Oct 21 between 9-10am. She’ll be dishing up Antioxidant-Rich Greek Isle Chicken and talking about all the free meals we’re providing to local families through this year’s Pink Dish! Campagin. Don’t miss it!

People are loving the whole grain options we now offer at Let’s Dish! locations in Maryland and Northern Virginia.Â Â Whole grain pasta, pitas and brown rice?Â Say the word and we’re happy to make the substitution — at no extra charge! Hey, and here’s something you may not know: TheÂ brown rice we now use in […]

Here’s a different take on “Fresh Ideas” – a great article on that issue of which type of fruits and veggies you should choose. We’ve discussed this before on Food for Thought but it never hurts to get a fresh reminder (sorry – couldn’t help the pun)! Fruits and Veggies: Fresh, Canned, or Frozen? By […]

As American Heart Month draws to a close, we want to encourage everyone to remember that focusing on your heart health should be a year-round, every day effort. We hope you found the articles posted this month on Food for Thought helpful towards your own personal heart health. It’s been educational and inspirational for us […]

This month, Lisa (co-owner of Let’s Dish! stores in MD and Northern VA)Â had her skills as the “woman behind the Let’s Dish! menu” put to the test by The Baltimore Sun. Though she has been putting dinner on the table for tens of thousands of families in the mid-Atlantic as our head of menu devlopment, […]

When you’re not eating meals from Let’s Dish!, choosing healthy foods from the grocery store is important for maintaining good heart health. Here are some helpful hints for tackling your grocery shopping… Make a list! Before you head to the store, take time to make a list. It will save you time and money. List […]

While studies have shown thatÂ a healthier choice is to eat wholesome, home-cookedÂ meals, preferably ones prepared at Let’s Dish!, the reality is that every once in a while, you go out to eat. And, sometimes it’s even fun to go out with your family. But that plaguing guilt, confusion and paralysis that takes over when you […]

We have all heard of superfoods. Everyone is talking about them. If they paid me a dollar for every time I saw them on a talk show, I’d be rich! So what are they? Superfoods range from various types of fruits and vegetables to spices to nuts to herbal supplements. They are believed to have […]

When Alexa and I went on WBAL for Sunday Brunch, one of the topics we discussed was fruit vs. fruit juice.Â In today’s post,Â Lisa follows up on the issue with some quick guidance onÂ the difference in healthfulness between fruit and fruit juice: Lisa, does fruit juice count as one of your dialy servings of fruit? […]

I heard about RealAge from Newt Gingrich. Seriously, I did! Back in 2006, we won a US Chamber of Commerce Award for our Let’s Dish! stores in the mid-Atlantic and were namedÂ one of the top small businesses in the country. (WeÂ won againÂ in 2007- how’s that for patting ourselves on the back!). Anyway, in 2006, Newt […]